Arctic Merfolk Discussion

2 months ago

Always_Freezing, thanks for the upvote and checking out the deck, I guess great minds think alike. As far as
Baleful Strix
, I was on the fence with it when the build was based around Muldrotha, but now with Yarok, I think it does need to find a place in the 100 despite its non-bo with
Cloudstone Curio
. In playtesting, I've found that the ETB draw triggers are the best option for consistency, so all of those options should be included in my opinion. I'll probably drop
Arctic Merfolk
to add it back.

As far as your deck, the only automatic include I would suggest is
Dimir House Guard
, as dropping
Aluren
on the board is the highest winning percentage play in the deck, and it's one of the very best ways to ensure you can get it in your hand, as it's almost impossible for your opponents to stop. Also, if you're going to rely on mana via creatures and untap triggers, you may want to consider
Shaman of Forgotten Ways
to go with
Bloom Tender
, as it has potential to go infinite even without
Aluren
, whereas
Sylvan Caryatid
and
Paradise Druid
can't.

Other than that, I would just say playtest the deck a bunch and see what stands out - I've found that options I thought were must includes initially ended up being quite underwhelming. Good luck and happy brewing.

5 months ago

I like the deck. Took some inspiration from it, added
Arctic Merfolk
and
Deep Analysis
to my deck. How did you feel about the counterspells when you played? Did you feel like you were able to hold mana open without sacrificing a play on your turn?

2 years ago

3 years ago

No problem! Of the two I'm not entirely sure depends on your meta. Probably leaning more towards Shrieking Drake. I'm leaning away from Quickling because in a utility sense without Aluren out could be problematic. Flash is nice and it could just in front of a Insectile Aberration and trade...but you need another creature out there for Quickling not to die off his own trigger. Also if you casted it in the previous situation with another creature in play, they could kill your other creature in response to the cast or trigger (which is very likely with the small creatures we run). Meaning you loose two cards off their one. With Shrieking Drake its weak but at least it can bounce its self to your hand if you cascade into it, unlike if you cascade into a Quickling on an empty board, you just can't cast it and waste the cascade. So probably the Shrieking Drake of the two. Honestly though I'd be more inclined to try Arctic Merfolk cascading into it isn't as good as Shrieking Drake, but the on cast benefit of returning a creature as the kicker can have its own benefit while trying to dig for the last combo piece with Aluren out or returning a single creature in play while trying to find your pieces to combo (they can't target say a single Shardless Agent that you return on a kicker as its part of the casting cost, as oppose to casting a Shrieking Drake with just the shardless in play. They'll know your intent so they can target it with removal in response to the cast.) Both have up's and downs best way to find out is to play test it! Cockatrice is always a good option.

3 years ago

seuvius I play Aluren, basically this build in Legacy, one of the reason the combo works is because the Bounce Creature doesn't target. Since Man-o'-War targets a creature the Recruiter of the Guard (or the target creature) can be targeted with removal in response and kill the combo. Arctic Merfolk, Quickling, or Shrieking Drake doesn't target so it forces your opponent to have 4 pieces of removal to hit all possible "targets" of the bounce trigger. Also I'd consider running Edric, Spymaster of Trest over a Shardless Agent (better in the late game due to increase card advantage) and if your going to run this list taking advantage of the new color white in the side board; Peacekeeper, Vindicate, ect. Just a suggestion!

Magic the Gathering, FNM is TM and copyright Wizards of the Coast, Inc, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This site is unaffiliated. Articles and comments are user-submitted and do not represent official endorsements of this site.